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SMSU Men’s Basketball: Mustangs set to host Bulldogs and Huskies

SMSU senior guard Drew Osmundson, left, drives to the basket with a defender guarding during the Mustangs’ game against USF on Nov. 29.

MARSHALL – The Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs men’s basketball team (7-1, 2-1 NSIC), matching the best start in school history after eight games, returns home for a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games at the R/A Facility this Friday and Saturday. SMSU will face the University of Minnesota Duluth (1-5, 1-1 NSIC) on Friday starting at 8 p.m. while on Saturday, Dec. 10, SMSU takes on St. Cloud State University (5-5, 2-0 NSIC) with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

BEST START IN TEAM HISTORY

• SMSU opened the season 6-0, its best start in school history.

• This year’s team matches the 2006-07 squad for best record to open a season after eight games in team history. Following a 7-1 start in 2006-07, SMSU lost three in a row and finished the season 20-10, losing to Winona State in NSIC tournament championship game.

BROADCAST INFO

• Both games will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL.

• The games can also be viewed online at SMSUmustangs.com.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA DULUTH

• SMSU and Minnesota Duluth meet for the 83rd time on Friday with UMD leading 51-30.

• The teams first met during the 1972-73 season.

• SMSU leads 20-16 in games played in Marshall.

• SMSU has won 12 of the last 14 games since the 2005-06 season.

• UMD won on Jan. 20, 2012, and Jan. 30, 2016, both in Duluth.

• UMD’s last win in Marshall came on Dec. 12, 2004.

• SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 8-2 all-time versus UMD.

SERIES HISTORY VS.

ST. CLOUD STATE

• SMSU and St. Cloud State meet for the 60th time on Saturday with SCSU leading 40-19.

• The teams first met during the 1969-70 season.

• SCSU is leads 16-12 in games played in Marshall.

• SMSU has lost five straight in the series, with its last win coming in St. Cloud on Feb. 11, 2012.

• SMSU’s last win at home was on Dec. 9, 2011.

• SCSU won last season’s lone meeting, 103-94 in St. Cloud.

• SMSU head coach Brad Bigler is 3-9 all-time versus SCSU.

GAME DAY STORYLINES

• SMSU suffered its first loss of the season last Friday at Upper Iowa, 77-75. SMSU held a 16-point lead in the first half.

• After being outrebounded in its first three games, SMSU has outrebounded its last five opponents.

• SMSU shot a season-low 38 percent in the win versus Sioux Falls on Nov. 30.

• SMSU shot just 39 percent in the win at Winona State on Saturday.

• Carter Kirk missed the Winona State game with an injury.

• Michael Lee scored a career-high 14 points with four 3-pointers in the win at Winona State.

• Joey Bartlett scored a season-high 20 points in the loss at Upper Iowa last Friday.

• SMSU committed a season-high 20 turnovers at Upper Iowa last Friday.

• Weg ranks first in team history in field goal pct. (58.4) and is eighth all-time in rebounds (623).

• SMSU opponents made 10 or more 3-pointers 11 times last season and averaged 8.8 per game. In eight games this season, opponents are averaging 5.1 per game and have reached double figures just once.

NSIC STATISTICS

• SMSU ranks first in scoring defense.

• SMSU ranks 11th in scoring offense.

SMSU SIXTH IN

REGIONAL POLL

• SMSU is ranked fifth for the second straight week in this week’s D2SIDA Central Region poll released on Monday.

• Each of the eight regions has six representatives from D2SIDA that coordinate the regional committee, with a regional poll that will be released every Monday during the regular season.

• The D2SIDA weekly rankings are independent of the official NCAA Regional Rankings that will be released closer to the end of the season.

ABOUT SMSU

• SMSU is 7-1 overall, 2-1 NSIC, following a split last weekend on the road.

• SMSU lost to Upper Iowa, 77-75 last Friday, before earning a 77-61 victory over Winona State on Saturday. It was SMSU’s first win at WSU since the 2002-03 season,

• SMSU has used a balanced scoring attack this season with six players averaging nine or more points per game.

• Ryan Bruggeman leads the team in scoring at 12.8 ppg and has dished out a team-high 29 assists.

• Taylor Schafer is scoring at 12.3 ppg with 14 3-pointers.

• Carter Kirk is averaging a team-high 7.1 rpg, while Mitch Weg is averaging 7.0 rpg and 11.4 ppg.

• SMSU is averaging 79 points per game, while opponents are averaging 71.

• SMSU is shooting 48 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range and 78 percent from the free throw line.

ABOUT UMD

• UMD is 1-5 overall, 1-1 NSIC, after picking up its first victory of the season last Saturday at home over Minnesota Crookston.

• Sean Burns is scoring 9.7 ppg and shooting 48 percent.

• Luke Harris is averaging 9.4 ppg with seven 3-pointers.

• Logan Rohrscheib is scoring 9.0 ppg with 11 3-pointers.

• Brandon Myer leads the team with 5.0 rpg.

• UMD is shooting 41 percent from the field, 39 percent from 3-point range and 68 percent from the free throw line.

• UMD is scoring 69 points per game, while opponents are averaging 71 points per game.

• Matt Bowen is in his fifth season as head coach with a record of 52-67. He was the head coach at Bemidji State for six seasons prior to UMD.

ABOUT SCSU

• SCSU is 5-5 overall, 2-0 NSIC, after beating Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State to open conference play last weekend.

• SCSU will play at Sioux Falls on Friday night.

• Gage Davis, who was named NSIC North Division Player of the Week on Monday, is scoring a team-high 21 ppg with 17 3-pointers to lead the Huskies. Davis was named the 2016-17 NSIC North Division Preseason Player of the Year.

• Scottie Stone is averaging 15 ppg with 29 3-pointers.

• Mark Hall is scoring 10.2 ppg with 15 3-pointers.

• Kurt Hall is coming off the bench to score 8.2 ppg with a team-high 5.7 rpg.

• SCSU is shooting 46 percent from the field, 36 percent from 3-point range and 69 percent from the free throw line.

• SCSU is scoring 81 points per game, while opponents are averaging 78 per game.

• Matt Reimer is in his third season as head coach with a record 36-33.

MUSTANG HISTORY

• Southwest Minnesota State is in its 50th season of men’s basketball in 2016-17.

• SMSU has played 1,355 games compiling an all-time record of 607-748.

• SMSU has won two NSIC regular season championships (2001 & 2009), one NSIC tournament championship (2012), two NCAA region championships (2001 & 2009) and appeared in three NCAA tournaments (2001, 2009, 2012).

• SMSU has recorded 21 winning seasons in program history with 14 coming in the last 18 years.

Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications

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